Preheat your oven to 350F and grease an 8 inch loaf pan with butter (I found the recipe made too much for one loaf pan–I made an 8 inch loaf and a small loaf pan).

In a small bowl combine all the dry ingredients (flour through salt). In medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, yogurt, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Then, stir in the dry ingredients, a bit at a time, until well blended. Finally, use a rubber scraper to fold the oil into the batter until it is fully incorporated.

Pour about one-third of the batter into the greased loaf pan. Sprinkle 2/3s of the pear pieces and the chocolate chunks all over the batter. Then, scrape the rest of the batter on top of this and gently spread it smooth. Sprinkle the rest of the pear and chocolate over the top of the loaf and gently press all the pieces down into the batter to partially submerge them.

Bake in the middle of the oven until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean – 55-60 minutes or so. Then, take the cake out of the oven and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Carefully turn the cake out of the pan, and then put it upright on a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. The cake will keep for several days (refrigerate if it’s more than 2 days), and slices are delicious lightly toasted before eating. Serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Like this:

Pears, pears, pears! I’ve overrun with pears thanks to my CSA shares this fall. They have been absolutely delicious but more than I can eat.

This recipe was simple and resulted in a moist, delicious bread great for a breakfast treat with a cup of hot coffee, tea or hot chocolate. Due to family tastes, I omitted the nuts, but it would be delicious with walnuts or pecans!

In a bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt; stir into the egg mixture just until moistened. Toss pears with lemon juice. Stir pears and walnuts into batter (batter will be thick).

Spoon into two greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: 2 loaves.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a round baking pan with 2 tablespoons of butter. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Brush the pear wedges with lemon juice and arrange in the bottom of the baking pan.

Combine flour with baking powder, salt and cinnamon, Set aside. Using a mixer, beat the remaining butter with sugar until fluffy. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture and milk alternating the ingredients slowly. Continue to beat on low-speed after each addition. Spoon batter evenly over pears in pan.

Bake for 30 minutes OR until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. (My oven required a longer baking time.)

Cool before inverting onto serving platter. Decorate with walnuts or serve with whipped cream as coffee cake or dessert.

My good friend, Jan, was telling me about her favorite Fall salad. It sounded so yummy and had all the things in it that I love. I made, I shared, I loved. This is great as a side dish but it’s so yummy, it could easily be a dessert. Thanks Jan for the great idea!